Minneapolis Connects - August 2016

City of Minneapolis sent this bulletin at 08/02/2016 10:04 AM CDT

August 2016

Get behind the scenes access to your City at the 2016 Minneapolis City Academy

The City Academy is a 5-week series for participants to learn how city government works including topics on general government, tax assessments, city planning, public works and police and fire operations. The academy also features tours of the City’s 911 operations center and the water treatment facility. The City Academy is free to the public.

The City Academy will be held on Wednesday from September 21st through October 19th.

Public commenting open for ADA action plan

The City of Minneapolis has
developed an action
plan to comply with Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Anyone from the public can weigh in on the plan through Aug. 27 at 612-673-3737
or ncr@minneapolismn.gov.

Neighborhood and Community
Relations staff will also collect comments directly from the Minneapolis
Advisory Committee on Aging, the Minneapolis Advisory Committee on People with
Disabilities and the Pedestrian Advisory Committee.

About the ADA Action Plan

The action plan is a
comprehensive policy document to bring Minneapolis into compliance with Title
II of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The action plan addresses City
programs and services; City-owned and leased buildings; and pedestrian rights
of way, sidewalks and curb cuts.

Voting in the Aug. 9 primary

The City of
Minneapolis encourages all eligible voters to participate in the Tuesday, Aug.
9 primary. Polls will be open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Individuals are eligible to vote
if they are a U.S. citizen at least 18 years old who has resided in Minnesota
for at least 20 days before the election. Any voters who have moved or changed
their name since they last voted must re-register.

Are you pre-registered?

All
individuals whose registration applications were received by elections
officials by 5 p.m. July 19 are pre-registered for the Aug. 9 primary. Newly
registered voters will receive a postcard notifying them where to vote.

If you
missed the deadline to pre-register, you may still be able to vote. Minnesota
is one of several states with Election Day registration. Individuals may
register at the polls on Election Day by providing one of the forms of
identification required by Minnesota law. Please allow extra time at the polls
to register. See vote.minneapolismn.gov for identification allowed for Election Day
registration.

What’s on the ballot?

Partisan
offices

United
States Representative (District 5).

Minnesota
State Senator (Districts 59 and 62).

Minnesota
State Representative (Districts 59A and 60B).

Nonpartisan
office

Minnesota
Supreme Court Associate Justice (Seat 6).

Presidential
candidates are not on the primary ballot. Minnesota uses caucuses run by the
political parties to help each party select a presidential candidate. Caucuses
were held in March in Minnesota. Presidential candidates will be on the ballot
in the November general election.

State law
allows voters to bring materials into the polls to help complete their ballots
— and thesample ballot is the single, best tool available for
this purpose. By downloading and printing their sample ballots (which are
customized to their specific ward and precinct), voters can practice marking
their ballots. They can bring this marked-up sample ballot as a reference to
the voting booth when completing their official ballots. This is the best way
to reduce the time spent waiting in lines.

Minneapolis
311 open during voting hours for Aug. 9 primary and Nov. 8 general election.

Minneapolis
311 will extend its usual hours by one hour to serve voters while the polls are
open. From 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on the Aug. 9 primary, Minneapolis voters can call
Minneapolis 311 for information on how to register and where to vote. From
outside the city limits dial 612-673-3000. TTY/TTD 612-673-2157.

Election
judges are needed for the general election Nov. 8 to serve voters in local
polling places. Election judges are paid $13.30 per hour for their service,
which includes training. Serving as an election judge provides an opportunity
to learn about the election process and is an important service to our
community. Judges who are fluent in a second language are especially needed to
provide additional language support in the polling place, including Spanish,
Somali, Hmong, Oromo, Lao, Vietnamese, Russian and American Sign Language.

Selection
and placement of judges is based on qualifications of applicants and party
balance within the precinct. Preference will be given to those willing to serve
a full day in a precinct with a vacancy.

For more information

The
Minneapolis Elections & Voter Services Division is responsible for
administering elections in the City of Minneapolis. For information about
registering and voting in Minneapolis or to serve as an election judge,
residents can visit vote.minneapolismn.gov or call 311 or 612-673-3000.

In
May of 2016, the Beltrami Neighborhood Council (BNC) was awarded a grant
from U.S. Bank Places to
Play Program to
construct a custom timber framed picnic pavilion at Beltrami Park in
partnership with the Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board (MPRB), Spark-Y, and volunteer timber-framing
expert Clark Bremer. The BNC is matching the Places to Play grant with $25,000
of City of Minneapolis Neighborhood Priority funding. MPRB and Beltrami
Community Church are also contributing funds to the project and Building Restoration Corporation is generously donating
several pieces of equipment.

Construction on the pavilion began in June with the timber carving occurring
the last two weeks of July. This community-led project features work days –
including a “picnic table build” on August 3 - in which residents can learn
more about timber framing through demonstrations and hands-on work. The timber
framed pavilion will be erected in August through a barn-raising group effort
and celebration.

Minneapolis Police begin using body cameras

Body cameras
are now being used by the Minneapolis Police Department. Officers in the 1st
Precinct began wearing body cameras earlier this month. Later in July, officers
in the 4th Precinct will begin wearing them, and officers across the city will
be wearing body cameras by the end of the year. The use of the cameras follows
the finalization of the body-worn camera policy, which was developed with
extensive feedback from and involvement with community.

The
introduction of body cameras comes after years of studying, testing and
evaluating, and it puts Minneapolis in the forefront of cities across the
country that are using them to help improve interactions between police
officers and residents. Body cameras are now a recommended best practice for
21st century policing. They can be a tool for building and enhancing
accountability, transparency, and public trust. In other cities, the adoption
of body cameras has also resulted in fewer use-of-force complaints.

Officer-worn
body cameras are merely a tool for improving police-community relations; they
are not a solution in themselves. But body cameras are an important tool, one
that will help the City continue to transform the relationship between police
and community for the better. They are not the final step in transparency, but
they are a big step toward it.

A backgrounder that the Police Department
prepared about the development of the BWC program and policy.

City awards funding to 10 organizations for the 2016 One Minneapolis Fund

The One Minneapolis Fund provides
funding to community organizations for leadership development programs and
community engagement activities. The name “One Minneapolis” is used for the
fund as a challenge to create an inclusive community in which all people are
valued, all communities are engaged, and leadership mirrors the great diversity
of our city. The One Minneapolis Fund is facilitated by the Minneapolis
Neighborhood and Community Engagement Commission (NCEC) and is funded by the
General Fund of the City of Minneapolis budget.

The following organizations were
awarded funding, for a total of $182,000, for the 2016 One Minneapolis Fund
program:

NCR sends proposed CPP Guidelines and 2017-2019 allocations to City Council for approval

On Monday, July 25, the Neighborhood and Community Relations
Department presented the proposed Community Participation Program Guidelines
and allocations for neighborhood organizations for 2017-2019 to the Health,
Environment and Community Engagement Committee of the City Council. The
Guidelines were adopted after one amendment to make a minor revision to
language in the Guidelines on residency verification for annual meetings. You
can see the Request for Council Action, the Guidelines, and the 2017-2019
allocations here.

The Guidelines and Allocations will be forwarded to the full
City Council for action on Friday, August 5, 2016. Once approved, NCR staff
will notify neighborhood organizations of the application process.

Meet a Neighborhood and Community Engagement Commissioner: David Zaffrann

How long have you been active in your community and what made you get involved in community work?

I have been involved in community organizing of one kind or another for almost 15 years, dating back to when I was attending the University of Minnesota. I have always had an interest in making my community a better place to live, and I consider my career and my life an ongoing education in how best to create that change. There are so many different ways we can do that in Minneapolis — in addition to direct engagement with our City Council, School Board, and Park Board, we have neighborhood organizations funded directly by the City and numerous other outstanding community organizations that organize and advocate on behalf of different communities.

What do you like most about your neighborhood or community?

There is so much! I have lived in the Longfellow area for over 7 years now, and above all I love our proximity to the river and all of the great parks and natural spaces along it. It’s also about as centrally located in the Twin Cities as you can get — it’s easy to get to downtown, to Saint Paul, the airport, and more. We have a pretty quiet neighborhood, and there are a lot of great neighborhood shops and restaurants within walking or biking distance. During the summer months, the Midtown Farmers Market is one of our favorite weekly destinations. My family and I recently moved into a new house, and we knew we wanted to stay exactly where we were — we ended up moving about 7 blocks!

Are there other boards and committees you are or have been on?

I have served on the central committee of the state DFL Party as well as my senate district over many years, though not currently.

Do you have any tips for residents interested in running for neighborhood boards and/or City boards and commissions?

Definitely. First and foremost, take the time necessary to be able to articulate why you want to serve on the board or commission, and what you want to work on or achieve. Second, be sure to get to know others serving in a similar capacity to get a sense of what the work, the group, and the experience are like. And finally, make a plan for getting elected or appointed. Don’t just leave it to chance — organize!

Anything else you’d like to share about yourself?

I am an organizer by training and mindset. I have worked for the Service Employees International Union in Minnesota for over 11 years to advance the interests of all working people and ensure that everyone has a voice in our community and in our democracy. I grew up in the Milwaukee area, moved here to go to the U of M, and have lived here permanently since 2005. I live in the Howe neighborhood with my wife and 18-month-old daughter.

***

The “Meet a Commissioner” series of the monthly Minneapolis Connects newsletter is intended for readers to get to know representatives of the Neighborhood and Community Engagement Commission (NCEC). The NCEC is a 16 member board that advises the Mayor and City Council on a wide range of community engagement issues.

The NCEC is responsible for developing guidelines for the City’s principal neighborhood funding program, the Community Participation Program, as well as the One Minneapolis Fund and the Community Innovation Fund. The Commission also works to broaden participation on advisory boards and commissions and develops recommendations for improving the City’s public participation process.

The Commission meets every 4th Tuesday of the month at 5:00p.m. Learn more about the Commission. Executive Committee and City Department Engagement Committee

Green Zones workgroup and survey underway

The Minneapolis Green Zones Workgroup, formed in April 2016
following the City Council adoption of Resolution
2016R-040, has now met four times. The Workgroup is made up of 19 members
including ten community representatives and nine City and agency staff. The Workgroup
has spent its first few months getting to know each other, developing workgroup
dynamics--such as group norms and ground rules-- and participating in training
sessions, including an unconscious bias workshop and an environmental justice
training. Meeting agendas and notes are available on the Green Zones webpage.

There will be multiple, diverse community engagement
strategies to connect and influence the Green Zones vision and goals. You can
start by taking thisshort 2-question
survey.

The next meeting is on August
30 from 5-8pm at East Side Neighborhood Services (1700 NE 2nd St)and will be focused on developing a
vision and goals for Minneapolis Green Zones. Meetings are open to the public. To
RSVP, please contact Kelly Muellman at kelly.muellman@minneapolismn.gov
or 612-673-3014.

Later this year the Workgroup will develop criteria for
determining Green Zone priority areas and potential strategies or activities
within the Green Zone areas to achieve the vision and goals. The recommendation
for a pilot Green Zone is scheduled to go to City Council later this year.

About this newsletterMinneapolis Connects is published by the City of Minneapolis Neighborhood and Community Relations Department. If you have questions, please contact ncr@minneapolismn.gov.

For reasonable accommodations or alternative formats please contact (add your information here including: department, contact person, phone and email). People who are deaf or hard of hearing can use a relay service to call 311 agents at 612-673-3000. TTY users can call 612-673-2157 or 612-673-2626.